Red Dog Essay

Thought the Red Dirt

Australian films are usually criticised for their poor cinematography, weak storyline and terrible stereotypical actors. However, this is not the case for the superb all age 2011 film entitled ‘Red Dog’. Based on the true Australian legend, Red Dog is loved by many Australians; he roamed the outback in search for his owner John. This emotional movie amazed the whole of Australia, finding his way into the hearts of everyone he meets. The film portrays a positive picture of Australia’s national identity as many of the landscapes and Australian spirit can still be found across Australia nowadays, which is why Red Dog should enter the ‘Cannes Film Festival’. The portrayal of the setting, characters and language have all played

It is set in Dampier, Western Australia's in 1971. Dampier is a small remote mining town. The miners take the bus every morning to go down to the mine; the road is made from dirt and sand. During the day, it is extremely hot, so workers have to protect themselves from the burning sun. In the beginning of the movie when Vanno was describing the extreme heat he said, “Remember Sam he worked in the sun for 5 hours with no hat, fool!” this relates the extreme weather in Australia. Every evening the workers would come home dirty and tired from their day at work. At dusk or when they had time, the workers would meet at the local pub to have a drink and gamble; this had become part of their diverse culture. At 14 minutes, a long shot is used to show the scenery of when Red Dog is scaring the seagulls on the dusty road, and in the background, the viewer can see the tip of the mining town. The bottom of the shot was burry to give the effect of a heat

The characters wear typical Australian clothe the men’s wear shorts, singles and boots, the ladies wear button-up tops and a skirt or pants. One character that challenges the Australian Male stereotype is Peeto, one evening John asked Peeto to look after Red Dog whilst he went the movies with Nancy. When Peeto is home, alone he starts to knit while listening to calm country music but when Peeto mates knock on the door he changes the song and puts the knitting away, as he doesn’t want anyone to know. In the scene (0:32:19) Peeto says “Bring back my bloody yarn!” this is when Red Dog finds Peeto’s yarn and runs outside with it and Peeto’s friend see the yarn and laugh. Later in the movie, Peeto and Vanno are in the Ute on the way to the animal clinic and Peeto starts to make fun of Vanno, Vanno becomes irritated and says (0:42:45) “Knitter…What kind of man knits a sweater” and Peeto and Vanno start an argument about how Peeto is nor manly because he knits. In addition, it is through these characters that the language of Australia has been confidently